Aria waited for the woman to walk away before approaching Omkar. “What are you doing here? I said I was coming back to you there,” Omkar said in a whisper.

“No way, I’m not gonna sit there and take orders from you, especially when you won’t tell me what the fuck is going on with you. You’re acting totally fucked,” Aria barked.

Omkar tried to quiet her and looked around to make sure they weren’t disturbing anyone. Aria’s habit of swearing added an edge to her that he liked, but he still found it embarrassing when they were in public. “OK, we can talk once we’re back in the car.”

The woman came back carrying something. “Yep, someone turned them in. You’re lucky, I was just about to take these over to Lost and Found before closing up for the night,” she said.

Omkar inspected the collection of keys to make sure it contained the one that he was looking for. “Hey, thanks,” he said to the woman, who had already turned her back on them. She was checking the room, making sure that everything was in its proper place for her to close down for the night.

He pulled at Aria’s arm as a request for her to follow him but Aria balked at the pressure. She felt unsafe with his sudden personality shift. “No fucking way. I am not doing this. You tell me what the fuck is going on with you or I am literally gonna walk the fuck out of here and find another place to stay until you can man the fuck up.”

Omkar put his hand up to her mouth and tried to shush her. She slapped it away. “OK, OK, my God,” he said, leading her by the arm into the aisles of books. The argument was forced to break from their lips at a whisper. Each time the woman tending the library changed her location, they would have to shift where they were standing to stay out of sight.

Omkar didn’t understand how it was possible that even though she had been the one to diminish the magic between them, suddenly he was now the one justifying himself. “Look, I didn’t mean to, but I saw you getting out of that car with that guy last night and I just went crazy, you know?”

“No, I don’t know. You can’t seriously be that childish, Omkar, what the fuck. What, now I can’t even get a ride from a guy without you thinking I fucked him or something?” Aria’s question was salted with accusation.

“I never said anything like that. I just don’t know how to trust you sometimes,” Omkar said.